Meet Rickie Drake | Potter and Surface Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rickie Drake and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rickie, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
My favorite quote for the past few years is “Everything Is Figureoutable” from Marie Forleo. I tend to overthink everything I do and then talk myself out of an idea because it feels daunting. Everything is Figureoutable reminds me to take a step back, breathe and remember that I can figure anything out if I want to figure it out.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My brand completely developed out of my own style and taste. Color is everything to me, more than the surface that it’s on, I could see a football in my colors and want it even though I’m not into football! I am a deeply feeling, visual person so my surroundings are really important. I don’t want to collect a lot of physical stuff in my life, but I want to be surrounded by things that make me happy. lola Arts became my place to play with clay, color and design and is slowly growing into a home goods, lifestyle brand through surface design.

I have built my brand slowly over time, exploring what I’m excited to make, what people are excited to buy, and what I want my life to become. More than anything I want to create a life that I love and functional art that brings people happiness and connection. Building a business isn’t easy, but doing it slowly as a side gig has allowed me to figure out what works and where I want my business to go without too much risk.

I think my brand stands out because of my color palette and simple designs. I do every aspect of my business myself so everything from my website to images to the actual product are infused with my style and love of what I do!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Portland, Maine which is a very small city that packs a big punch! We are right on the ocean, a short trip from the mountains and FILLED with incredible food, art, music and community. Oh man, you can fit a lot into a week! Let’s make it a summertime visit because so much is possible in the summertime here…

I would fill the week with so many outdoor things! Thursday night would be on the Eastern Prom listening to local live music while looking over the harbor and soaking up friends, kids, dogs in the epitome of summer relaxing fun! Picnic dinner or dinner from the food trucks topped off with the most amazing, freshly made donuts from the Eighty Eight Donut truck. This is my summer happy place! Saturday morning would be spent at the Farmer’s Market in Deering Oaks Park, perusing all the veggie stands, and local artist tables, listening to local musicians set up along the way and probably eating a chocolate sea salt donut from the Holy Donut which is just around the corner. Standard Baking would absolutely be a stop one (or many) days, I’m clearly showing my priorities when it comes to food! There are a million fancy, amazing restaurants in this city but I’m more of a hearty, simple meal kind of person. I love Flatbread Pizza because it’s amazing and also right on the water, the Porthole for breakfast for the same reason, good food and on the wharf.

I grew up on Peaks Island so a trip on the ferry to spend the day there is a must. We would visit a few friends, walk the island, the beach, maybe ride bikes and for sure stop at the ice cream store which was my first job aside from babysitting when I was a kid. Our city is filled with green spaces so top of the list is exploring local trails that aren’t packed with tourists and maybe catching a show at Thompson’s Point. I love any part of the city where you can hang out and watch the world go by. The working waterfront is one of my favorite parts of Portland, seeing salt of the earth people who make our economy go round at the center of all the fancy shops downtown makes me so happy.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband Justin. He has helped me take steps big and small from the beginning that allowed me to move forward and start growing an actual business. If it wasn’t for him, I might not have taken my creative side to the next level and started building a business and brand.

Website: https://www.lolaarts.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/_lola_arts_

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LolaArts